"Like to be on top, do we?" He reached for her hands, grabbed hold, and pulled her closer.

"I like to be in control of my destiny, since so many times in the past..." She quit speaking, and a painful shadow of her past seemed to haunt her expression.

He wondered what other difficulties she'd encountered to make her distrust a pack so, and he had every intention of dispelling every one of her concerns. "It's hard for me to really get close to you like this, Cassie, without... getting closer."

She twisted her mouth in thought. Her legs remained spread to him, her sweet opening begging for him to fill her, if she'd just agree to the commitment.

She wasn't buying his suggestion, though, so he rested his hands on her legs, his thumbs stroking the flesh of her inner thighs. She spread her legs further, her feminine lips pressing heavier against his erection. He moaned low.

She smiled wickedly. Vixen.

He brushed his thumbs against the feminine cleft between her legs, and she gave a start. He craved having her beneath him where he could suck her sweet nipples and kiss her tantalizing mouth. He wanted to be on top, in control, possessing her, for now. Until she agreed to be his. And then she could have her way with him in any way or at any time she wished.

He dipped his fingers in her wetness and then circled her swollen nub with a teasing touch. She closed her eyes, her mouth open, and a throaty groan escaped her lips. She arched her back and slid against his cock. Then she opened her eyes and gave a little devilish smile. Leaning down, she kissed his forehead, and as soon as she did, he held two generous breasts in his greedy grasp.

But his attention shifted to her soft lips brushing against his cheek, lowering still until she captured his mouth with hers.

Then her hands were on his nipples, her fingertips cajoling them into submission. And her tongue. Sweet God, her tongue pushed his lips open and then thrust inside his mouth like he wanted to do with his cock between her legs.

That's when he took charge and gently moved Cassie onto her back. Her eyes were dark with desire, and she seemed embroiled in the passion of the moment, almost willing to capitulate. At least she appeared that way. Or it might have been a case of desperate "wishfulness" on his part.

But seeing her on her back, her knees bent, her legs parted for him, her gaze saying she wanted him as much as he wanted her, he hated not fulfilling his primal needs. Still, he settled between her legs and covered her mouth with his. His tongue swept around hers in an erotic, ravaging dance. His fingers molded around her breasts, while his thumbs stroked her swollen nipples, and his heavy arousal pressed against her opening. And then he separated her feminine lips with his fingers and pressed the length of his penis between them like a hot dog sandwiched in a slick bun, sliding against her nub, the eroticism of the friction between them fulfilling his raw need. Although he still wanted to be deep inside her.

Faster, more vigorously he moved, adding fuel to the fire already heating his blood. She gripped his hair and parted her lips. His mouth took advantage of her open invitation. Tempestuous kisses added to the building climax, until her lips wrapped around his tongue and she began sucking. Gently at first, then harder, more rapidly, and he couldn't hold out any longer, his breath coming rapidly, his heart beating at a frantic pace. Slipping his fingers to her nub, he stroked until she cried out, a sheen of light perspiration and a look of sinful wonderment on her face.

He felt the world explode all around him as he came, spilling his seed on top of her. The fault was her own for not allowing him to take the desperate plunge deep inside her where he belonged.

She gave him a wickedly delicious smile, her hands grasping his arms and pulling him down on top of her stomach. "Hmm, you're good."

"Could have been better." He kissed her lips, heard her heart still beating overtime, took a deep breath of the way she smelled fully aroused.

"Nothing could be better," she said, and wrapped her arms around him.

Because there was no commitment. But there would be. He sifted his fingers through her silky hair and kissed her cheek. He thought she'd say something more about searching for the she-wolf, but she didn't say anything else. Instead, she gave a broken sigh and closed her eyes.

"Ahh, Cassie, you are a wonder." He rolled off her and pulled her gently into his arms, still concerned about her shoulder. Another couple of hours of rest would do her a world of good. And him, too. Until the matter of two red female wolves running loose in the wilderness could be settled.

* * *

When they woke, Leidolf tightened his hold on Cassie. The fire was still blazing in the fireplace and the cabin still toasty warm. He kissed her forehead and she sighed, a sexy, well-satisfied sigh. He let out his own breath, not liking the options that faced them.

"I'd search for the pair of wolves on my own, but I don't want to leave you here alone."

She didn't say anything, just toyed with his nipple, stirring his compulsion to want her again. It was midday, not the best time for him to be out in his wolf coat searching for the other wolves anyway. And if she wanted to play again...

She slipped her hands behind his head and looked into his eyes. This wasn't about sex, he figured. Something deeper. Another secret?

He ran his hands down her back in a gentle motion, hoping she'd tell him what was on her mind. Then she laid her head back down on his chest, and he feared she'd decided not to talk about whatever was bothering her. With his pack members, he often let them speak to him when they were ready. But with Cassie, he worried that whatever was eating at her would come between them and she would never divulge her secret.

"Cassie?"

Cassie knew she shouldn't reveal the truth to Leidolf, but she had no choice. If she was to leave this place to search for the wolf and her pups, she had to be honest, since her previous plan of trying to locate them after Leidolf left her alone didn't seem to be in the works. She was afraid he'd want her even more than he did now. She lifted her head again and gazed into his worried eyes.

"I can change into a wolf despite there being a new moon out."

He stared at her for a minute as if he was trying to determine whether she was being honest with him this time. "You're not newly turned." He didn't ask a question, but he sounded incredulous.

She shrugged. "I figured you already had guessed that."

He smiled broadly and ran his hands through her hair again and nuzzled his face against the strands. "Hell, you're a royal. That's another thing I like about you. You're almost as devious as I am when it suits me."

"You left me no choice."

"Good. I would have discovered the truth before long, make no mistake about it. So we change and run together as long as you can manage all right with that shoulder of yours."

Sooo arrogant. "With two of us as a target? Wouldn't it be better if we split forces?" Part of her thought it was the best idea, although she really wanted him with her this time. And that scared her. Was she already relying too much on him to be her champion?

"No. I'm not letting you out of my sight. Remember what happened the last time you were out here on your own? It won't be dark for a couple of hours. I'll catch us some fish, and we can cook it over the fire. When it gets dark, we'll search for the wolves."

Which should have been a good thing. The one wolf, yes, with her pups and all. But already, Cassie didn't like that he wanted to find the other wolf so bad. And here she'd never been jealous in her life.

"What about your men? Won't they come looking for us?" she asked, licking his nipple. She swore he groaned a little in response.

"Not anytime soon."

She frowned at him. "You wanted me alone."

"You're the one who ran off. Couldn't have had the royals in my pack shifting, then swimming across the river, and running through the woods after you."

She smiled coyly. "You wanted me alone."

He smiled back and cupped her ass with his large, capable hands. "Any reason would do. Stay here while I catch some fish."

"I need to wash up."

He touched the skin below her wound. "You need to rest a little more before you shift again. You'll be overexerting yourself as is. So after you wash up, I want you to come straight back here and rest further."

Then he kissed her long and deep and hard, his hands on her waist, his body pressed lightly against hers, touching, questing for release. "Let's go." Yet, it took him longer than necessary to release her, as if he was trying to think of a way of convincing her to give in to him now. To become his mate. Then he cast her a devious smile, kissed her forehead, and rose from their bed of pine needles to help her to stand.

But something had changed in their relationship, despite her thinking it wouldn't with a hot morning of sex, strictly a one-night-stand kind of affair. He looked at her more tenderly now as he pulled a couple of pine needles from her hair. As if she'd become his mate even though they hadn't mated. As if the pressure was off.

"Afraid the water will be too cold?" He motioned to an old metal bucket. "I could fill it with water and warm it over the stove and you could wash up that way."

"Or I could shift."

Before he could say another word, she shape-shifted. His mouth dropped a little in surprise. No way was she going to bathe in the melting snow run-off in her human form.

He shook his head and opened the door. "No fortitude at all."

She had fortitude but brains, too. She dashed for the swiftly flowing creek and bounded in, splashing water all about her and snapping at the droplets with her powerful jaws, unable to control that part of her that came so naturally to wolves--the urge to play when no threat of danger existed.

Leidolf laughed from the shoreline, and she turned to see him watching her, his arms folded across his naked chest, his eyes sparkling with delight.

In that instant, she wondered again if somehow they could compromise. She could become his mate and experience the best sex she'd ever had as long as he'd let her go to conduct her research unimpeded afterward.